*** vvn/v%^vv\a/v / / / ^ ._._. , HE CAMBRIDGE Bifi L£ < p|K SCHOOL & COLLEGIS .V li.M > THE SEGONB BOOK OF SAMUEL A.RKmKPATRICK.M.A, GENERAL EDITOR . S.PEROWNE,Da *-, AN OF PETERBOROUGH #5 Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2011 with funding from University of Toronto http://www.archive.org/details/firstandsecondboOOkirk %\)t Canrtriticje KMt for i^rfjools atrti Collets, THE SECOND BOOK OF SAMUEL. Eontion : C. J. CLAY and SONS, CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS WAREHOUSE, AVE MARIA LANE. Cambrfofle: DEIGHTON, BELL, AND CO. letpjig: F. A. BROCKHAUS. § - B ' ,. ',"""""".,,.i K '.'kr- ». ':/*' I ^$£ i r- O 2 5 : Wljt^€m\\bxir}%t JSMt for ^tljools anU Collets* General Editor:—J. J. S. PEROWNE, D.D., Bishop of Worcester. THE SECOND BOOK OF SAMUEL, WITH MAPS, NOTES AND INTRODUCTION REV. A. F. KIRKPATRICK, M.A., FELLOW OF TRINITY COLLEGE, AND REGIUS PROFESSOR OF HEBREW IN THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE. EDITED FOR THE SYNDICS OF THE UNIVERSITY PRESS. <£ambrftrge AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS. 1890 reserved. \AU Rights .] Etiam quae plana videntur in Scripturis plena sunt quaestionibus. HlERONYMUS. [^C^Cr\ % PREFACE BY THE GENERAL EDITOR. The General Editor of The Cambridge Bible for Schools thinks it right to say that he does not hold himself responsible either for the interpretation of particular passages which the Editors of the several Books have adopted, or for any opinion on points of doctrine that they may have expressed. In the New Testament more especially questions arise of the deepest theological import, on which the ablest and most conscientious interpreters have differed and always will differ. His aim has been in all such cases to leave each Contributor to the unfettered exercise of his own judgment, only taking care that mere controversy should as far as possible be avoided. He has contented himself chiefly with a careful revision of the notes, with pointing out omissions, with PREFACE. suggesting occasionally a reconsideration of some question, or a fuller treatment of difficult passages, and the like. Beyond this he has not attempted to interfere, feeling it better that each Commentary should have its own individual character, and being convinced that freshness and variety of treatment are more than a compensation for any lack of uniformity in the Series. Deanery, Peterborough. CONTENTS. PAGES I. Introduction. Chapter I. The Book of Samuel 9— 17 Chapter II. Analysis of the Second Book of Samuel ... 17 — 21 Chapter III. The Relation of the Book of Chroni- cles to the Book of Samuel 22 — 25 Chapter IV. The Chronology of the Second Book of Samuel 25— 27 Chapter V. The Place of the Books of Samuel in the History of the Kingdom of God 27— 32 Chapter VI. The Reign of David 32-41 Chapter VII. The Typical Significance of David's Reign and Life 42 —45 Chapter VIII. Psalms illustrative of David's Reign 45—48 II. Text and Notes 49—232 III. Additional Notes I—VI 233—241 IV. Index , 243 Map of the Holy Land to illustrate the Books of Samuel to face title-page. Map of the Environs of Jerusalem to face p. 49. %* The Text adopted in this Edition is that of Dr Scrivener's Cambridge Paragraph Bible. A few variations from the ordi- nary Text, chiefly in the spelling of certain words, and in the use of italics, will be noticed. For the principles adopted by Dr Scrivener as regards the printing of the Text see his Intro- duction to the Paragraph Bible, published by the Cambridge University Press. I HAVE FOUND DAVID MY SERVANT With my holy oil have I anointed him. i will give you the sure mercies of david. he shall be great and shall be called The Son of the Most High. And the Lord God shall give unto HIM The throne of his father David. INTRODUCTION. CHAPTER I. THE EOOK OF SAMUEL. I. Titles and Division of the Books. The two Books of Samuel, like the two Books of Kings, originally formed an un- 1 for critical divided whole , and must be considered as one book purposes in general introductory remarks. The Septuagint translators, regarding the Book of Samuel and the Book of Kings as a complete History of the Kingdom from its founda- tion to its fall, divided the work into four books, which they styled Books of the Kingdoms (/Si'iSXot fiacrikeiav). Jerome fol- lowed this division in the Vulgate, altering the name to Books of the Kings (Libri Regum), which is retained as an alternative title in the English Bible. This division was first introduced into printed Hebrew Bibles by the Venice printer Bomberg in 1518. 2. Meaning of the Title. The title Samuel does not denote authorship, but like the titles Joshua, Ruth, and Esther, com- memorates the prominent actor in the events recorded in the book. Its adoption shews a true insight into the connexion of the history it contains. It stands as a monument of the great- 1 The Masoretic note of the number of verses, &c, appended at the close of the Second Book in the Hebrew Bible, still treats the two books as one. Origen (quoted by Euseb. H. E. vi. 25. 3) mentions that the Jews of his day regarded Samuel as one book. io INTRODUCTION. ness of the Prophet who was Jehovah's instrument for establish- ing the Kingdom of Israel, and guiding the chosen people through a crisis in its history second in importance only to the Exodus. The book begins with the account of his birth : and his direct influence extends to the close of it, in the reign of the king whom he anointed as Jehovah's choice. The Second Book of Samuel must seem a strange title for a book of which not a line was written by Samuel, and in which his name is not once mentioned, unless these two considerations are borne in mind, (i) that the division of the book into two parts is not original, (2) that Samuel's direct work really reaches all through the book. 3. Who was the Author of the Book of Samuel? To this question no answer can be given. A late Jewish tradition ascribes the authorship to Samuel himself. This obviously could only apply to the first twenty- four chapters of the First Book, and as the work forms a connected whole, it is improbable that these in their present form proceeded from his pen. It is generally agreed that the Book is a compilation from different sources, but who was the compiler there is no evidence to shew. 4. What then were these sources ? Ingenious attempts have been made to analyse the component parts of the book. But apart from these conjectural theories we have several indications of the sources from which the compiler drew his materials. (a) The chief sources were probably contemporary prophetical histories. The compiler of the Book of Chronicles (probably Ezra) expressly names as the original authority for the history of David's reign "the chronicle (lit. words) of Samuel the seer (roe/i) and the chronicle of Nathan the prophet, and the chronicle of Gad the seer (chozeh) V It has been maintained that Samuel, Nathan, and Gad were the subjects, not the authors, of the works referred to. Even if this was so, it is evident that they contained much valuable material for the history of David's reign. But the corresponding reference to the original autho- rities for the history of Solomon's reign in 2 Chron. ix. 29 1 For the distinction between rSeh and chozeh see note on 1 Sam. ix. 9. INTRODUCTION. (among which the chronicle of Nathan the prophet is again mentioned), and the constant references to similar prophetic 1 writings as authorities for the reigns of later kings , make it almost certain that the three prophets mentioned were them- selves the historians of the period. It has been also maintained that the works referred to by the compiler of Chronicles actually were the present Book of Samuel. But it is evident that the document which he was using contained much more than these books, while at the same time certain sections of Samuel and Chronicles agree almost verbally. The most natural conclusion is that both compilers drew from the same authority, which the Chronicler expressly names. From this each felt at liberty to select such facts as 2 bore upon the special object of his work . If then the Book of Samuel was compiled largely from the chronicles of Samuel, Nathan, and Gad, supplemented by other records preserved in the Schools of the Prophets, it follows that it rests upon the best possible authority. Samuel is the historian of his own life-time, which included the greater part of Saul's reign : Nathan and Gad together give the history of David's reign. The events of David's life must have been familiarly known in the Schools of the Prophets at Ramah. It is expressly mentioned that when he fled from Saul he "came and told Samuel all that Saul had done to him, and he and Samuel went and dwelt in Naioth 3 " the college of prophets which Samuel had established at Ramah. To this intercourse may be referred the full and vivid account of David's friendship with Jonathan, preserved perhaps almost in the very words in which he related his story to the prophets. An incidental notice suggests that Gad was the medium of communication between the college at Ramah and David during 1 To the writings of Shemaiah and Iddo for the reign of Rehoboam for that of (2 Chron.